For Forever
by cherryredchucks
Summary: Ron and Hermione reflect on their lives and each other. Marital fluff!!


A/N: My first Harry Potter fan fic. I thought the best way to start was with the best ship of all. I hope you enjoy.  
  
DISCLAIMER: If Ron were mine..::evil laugh::  
  
He was always around. Even when she was sleeping, she could feel his presence. She could smell him on her skin when she awoke, and she would revel in the warmth of his caress. She wouldn't have had it any other way.  
  
She cracked an eye halfway open and then shut it again with a sigh. She heard his intake of breath and his arm move from being lightly draped in sleep across her to a sure grip. He squeezed her a little and nestled his head into her shoulder. She knew he'd have to crane his neck to do so, after all, he was a good seven inches taller than she. But he didn't seem to mind.  
  
"'Morning" He mumbled, his warm breath sending a slight shiver down her spine as he kissed her neck softly. She shut her eyes tighter to block out the slit of sunlight that was making its way into her vision.  
  
"It's not morning, go back to sleep." She turned towards him, eyes still closed and he pulled her towards him. She could feel his smile and allowed a small one to play on her lips, interrupting the pout she'd previously had on. He chuckled a little and she rested her head on his bare chest, her arm splayed across him as he held her to him, his nails raking slowly up and down her arms, tickling her a little.  
  
"You keep up an attitude like that and people won't take you seriously." He kissed the top of her head lightly and she made a happy noise that was somewhere between a hum and a squeak. He chuckled again.  
  
"Tell them to read my books. And note the Order of Merlin, First Class. If they don't take me seriously after that, I'll hex them. Then they'll know not to mess with me." She opened her eyes halfway and lifted her head. He grinned down at her.  
  
"They won't know anything if you hex them. They'll be lucky to be alive." She found herself grinning back at him. He had taken a piece of her curly brown hair and begun weaving it through his fingers, watching it shine in the early morning light that was spilling in through the rustling curtains, bouncing off the stone floor, creating a warm glow as they lay in bed. She made her happy noise again and he pulled her closer. She kissed him soundly on the lips before nestling her head into his shoulder, her hands still at his chest.  
  
"Our heartbeats match." She remarked idly. His hand stopped its gentle ministrations to her hair and looked down at her.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"They're beating at the same time." She clarified. Her eyes slid closed once more and she began to tap her finger on his chest to the beat of their hearts. He took her hand into his, his thumb running lazily on the back of her palm.  
  
"I love you" He whispered, his words almost lost in her brown locks. She turned to him and he felt himself fall back into her eyes.  
  
"I love you too" She smiled gently. His mind did a silent movie as he gazed into her face. He watched it mature from when he first met her at eleven, to her frozen expression after the encounter with the Basillisk at twelve, to their awkward hug at thirteen, to the Yule Ball at fourteen, to her grin after she'd kissed him on the cheek at fifteen. Ron closed his eyes, a smile playing on his lips as the movie moved to her gentle smile after they'd shared their first kiss at sixteen, to her eyes when he told her that he loved her the eve of the final battle at seventeen. Hermione shifted a little against him, sighing in contentment and he tightened his grip around her. The movie in his mind flashed forward to her on their wedding day, the way her eyes shone with love and happiness, the way she looked so beautiful he thought for sure that he was dreaming, the way that his heart had leapt when she's appeared at the end of the aisle, and how she'd winked at him at the altar. She was beauty in its purest form. The movie jumped to the first time she'd held their daughter, Phoenix. The way her cheeks glistened with tears and the way her smile lit up the room. Pictures of her playing with Phoenix and the twins, Harry and Ron Jr. He looked at her now, lying in a half sleeping state on his chest and his heart swelled.  
  
"I love you." He whispered again and she looked at him with eyes half hooded with sleep and smiled. He wondered sometimes if she thought he was strange, the way he would say he loved her at sporadic times, times when it wasn't a perfect moment. When she was cooking dinner, when she had her brow furrowed as she tried to write, when she was tucking the children in, when she was just there. He couldn't help it. The words would rush past his lips; the feeling was so natural, yet always so exciting. It was one thing to be in love with someone but quite another completely to have that person love you back. And Ron tried to make sure he never took it for granted. He kissed her softly, barely a kiss at all, a ghost meeting of two lips. But he kissed her again, trying to convey his love for her without words. She wove her hands in his hair as his hands slid to her back. She smelled of lavender and laundry. He loved her.  
  
A timid knocking interrupted what would have been, jolting the two apart. An auburn head of hair poked in the door.  
  
"Are you awake?" She smiled to him and turned to her daughter.  
  
"Yes sweetie, what is it?" Phoenix was silent for a few moments, her weight shifting from foot to foot. A look that said she understood passed over her mother's features and the little girl scampered up onto the bed. He looked at his wife with admiration. She'd always had that instinct to mother and nurture. It amazed him. Their daughter made her way over the fluffy comforter, nestling between them both, her grin spreading across her face, making her freckles light up. She realized again how much their daughter looked like him. Phoenix had his grin and his mischievous eyes and his sense of humor. Sometimes it amazed her to look at her children. They were the bond that united her to her husband for forever, cementing the bond that had been formed by their love. They were his and her children. This notion never got boring. Another knock at the door, followed by a storm of two young boys bounding up on the bed, wriggling their way in between them, giggles and squeals ringing off the walls as everyone tried to fit into the king-sized bed. In the end, the two boys were on either side of Phoenix and Ron and Hermione on the outside of the three. He lay his arm across the children and she did the same. They clasped hands as the room feel silent to even breathing. She lifted her head a little and caught his eyes. She smiled to him. She looked eighteen to him again. They'd been so young when they'd married. She was only twenty-four now, with three children and a six- year wedding anniversary in two months. She would always be eighteen, saying "I Do" in his eyes. And as she lay her head down again, he squeezed her hand gently, sleep catching up with him again.  
  
"I love you, Hermione Weasley." He murmured and for a minute the words hung in the air as he presumed her to already be asleep. But finally a half- asleep voice broke the silence, barely above a whisper.  
  
"I love you too, Ron. For forever." 


End file.
